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The following are among the new faculty members at the University. Others will be introduced periodically in this space. Costas Azariadis joins the Department of Economics in Arts & Sciences as professor. Azariadis earned a doctorate in 1975 from Carnegie Mellon University and has been affiliated with Brown and Penn universities and UCLA. He was tenured in 1977 (Penn) and promoted to full professor in 1983 (Penn). He served as the director of UCLA’s Program for Dynamic Economics from 1993-97 and from 2000-06. He has served as editor or co-editor for a number of top journals and has been on journal advisory boards and National Science Foundation panels. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society. His research focus is on labor contracts, macroeconomic dynamics and economic development. Michele Boldrin joins the Department of Economics in Arts & Sciences as professor. Since earning a doctorate from the University of Rochester in 1987, Boldrin has been affiliated with UCLA, Northwestern and Minnesota. He was tenured in 1990 (Northwestern) and promoted to full professor in 1999 (Minnesota). Boldrin has served as editor or associate editor for many top journals and is an associate editor of Econometrica. He served as vice president and president of the Italian Economic Association and is a research associate of the Center for Economic Policy Research. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society. His research focuses on economic theory, economic growth and macroeconomics. Sebastian Galiani joins the Department of Economics in Arts & Sciences as associate professor. He earned a doctorate from Oxford University in 2000 and has been affiliated with Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina, promoted to the associate rank there in 2005. Galiani chairs the executive committee of the Network of Inequality and Poverty, sponsored jointly by LACEA, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. His main research focus is on development economics, particularly on evaluating public policies being undertaken by developing countries. David K. Levine joins the Department of Economics in Arts & Sciences as professor. After completing his doctorate at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology in 1981, he joined UCLA’s faculty as an assistant professor and was there later tenured and then promoted to full professor. He has served on the editorial board of many top journals and is co-editor of Econometrica. He is the president of the Society of Economic Dynamics. He has served on the National Science Foundation economics panel and on the American Economic Association’s Committee on Honors and Awards. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society. His research is on game theory, general equilibrium theory and macroeconomic theory.

Photo by Mary ButkusThe University’s Visions Gospel Choir performs at the 20th annual celebration honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 15 in Graham Chapel.

NASA has selected Alian Wang, Ph.D., senior research scientist in Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences, to participate as a member of the science team for the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission. Wang will receive approximately $800,000 to study the chemistry, mineralogy and astrobiology of Mars using instrumentation on the ExoMars mission, scheduled for launch in 2013. The mission will fly the first Raman Spectrometer, an instrument that Wang has worked on for more than 10 years, originally with the late Larry Haskin, to Mars. … Pam Wiese, senior administrator for strategic initiatives in the Olin School of Business, has been named one of this year’s 40 Under 40 by the St. Louis Business Journal. She was profiled in the Jan. 12 issue, and will be recognized with 39 other’s named as young professionals making their mark on the local business community at a dinner and awards program Feb. 8. … Margo Schlanger, J.D., professor of law, is contributing to an American Bar Association project to create principles for times of national disaster. The proposed “Rule of Law in Time of Calamity” principles are designed to address issues of insurance, compensation, procedural justice, and criminal justice (such as policing, prosecution and corrections). The ABA Section of Litigation considered the proposed principles Jan. 18-20. Schlanger is one of 16 academics and judges working on the project. The proposed principles are designed to guide responses to many kinds of disasters that challenge the operation of civil and criminal justice. If the ABA Section of Litigation approves the principles, they will go to the ABA’s House of Delegates for consideration as ABA policy. … R. Gilbert Jost, M.D., the Elizabeth Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the Department of Radiology, was named president of the Radiological Society of North America Board of Directors in November at the society’s annual meeting. The group is an organization of more than 37,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists and related scientists committed to promoting excellence in radiology through education and research, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care. Jost’s presidency will last a year. … Curtis McMillen, Ph.D., associate professor of social work in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and associate director of the Center for Mental Health Services, was an invited speaker at a National Governor’s Association Policy Academy meeting in late November in Miami. His talk was titled “Policies that Support Older Youth in Foster Care with Serious Mental Illness.” … Victoria J. Fraser, M.D., the J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine, has received a five-year, $1,999,986 grant from the National Center for Infectious Diseases for the “Washington University & BJC Epicenter for Prevention of Health Care-associated Infection.” … Andreas H. Burkhalter, Ph.D., professor of neurology, has received a five-year, $1,546,667 grant from the National Eye Institute for research titled “Formation of Cortical Areas and Circuits.” … Jonathan D. Gitlin, M.D., the Helene B. Robinson Professor of Medicine, has received a five-year, $1,540,559 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for research titled “Biological Roles of Copper in Human Nutrition.” … Keril J. Blight, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular microbiology, has received a five-year, $1,521,667 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for research titled “Defining NS4B Function in Hepatitis C Virus Replication.” … Ming You, M.D., professor of surgery, has received a five-year, $1,363,420 grant from the National Cancer Institute for research titled “Chemoprevention with mTOR & Farneslytransferase Inhibitors.” … James M. Cheverud, Ph.D., professor of genetics, has received a four-year, $1,237,474 grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for research titled “Genetic Basis of Dietary Obesity in Mice.”

Photo by Kevin LowderErin Finneran, Ph.D., postdoctoral lecturer in English in Arts & Sciences, leads a discussion with a sixth-grade class from Flynn Park Elementary School after the class viewed the play “Hana’s Suitcase.”

Jan 18-24 Jan. 23 11:16 a.m. — A complainant reported a departmental laptop missing from the copy/workroom area of Simon Hall. The computer was last used Dec. 22, 2006, and discovered missing Jan. 4. The computer is valued at $1,700. 9:13 p.m. — A student reported an unknown person(s) stole his white MacBook laptop and power cord from a table in Olin Library on level A. The student stated he left his laptop to get a drink of water and when he returned the laptop was gone. No suspects or witnesses were identified. Theft occurred between approximately 9-9:01 p.m. The laptop and power cord are valued at $1,500 University Police also responded to three auto accidents, two larcenies and one report of trespassing.

Washington University in St. Louis, in conjunction with the St. Louis Chapter of the Jewish Community Center (JCC), will celebrate the 21st annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGSWD) with the JCC Female Fan Day during the women’s basketball game against New York University on Sun., January 28. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. at the WU Field House.